Mistakes
by your royal highness
Summary: Ziva and Tony are finally together, secretly. While on a mission, she makes a grave mistake as she lets her feelings for Tony take control.
1. Mistake

**Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS**

The warehouse was relatively dark, only the light from the high windows targeting the murderer. Ziva and Tony slinked up against the side of a box of crates, guns up at the ready, Tony in front of Ziva.

On the other side of the warehouse, out of the eyesight of them, Gibbs and McGee scaled the wall, backs to it, guns at the ready. Gibbs poked his head around and spotted their captive sailor, hands tied and hanging from the rope coming from the ceiling. He was bloody; his mouth taped shut with duck tape, his arms and feet tied tightly together with a crude looking rope. A man stood in front of him, applying thick lashes to the man. He squirmed and tried to move, but he couldn't.

Gibbs brought his head back and looked at McGee, who just nodded his head. He brought his wrist up to his mouth and all but whispered, "On the count of three, DiNozzo. Ziva, I want you to protect McGee if at any time I can't."

"Yes, Gibbs," She nodded, fully understanding that the man that was torturing their sailor was only doing it to get to McGee. Only doing it to get him to give the top secret information, and she was on his protection detail.

Tony nodded and then turned to his partner, putting his gun down as he spoke to her with his eyes, "One." They both heard Gibbs say, and Ziva reached up as Tony reached down to peck her on the lips just as Gibbs said, "Two." She smiled and then they returned to their position, guns now at the ready. She had never been so in love with someone in her life. They had barely been together a month, and yet they were acting as if they had been together for years, "Three!"

All four jumped out, their guns drawn, almost standing next to each other, Ziva to the far left, next to Tony, who was next to McGee and Gibbs to follow, "Freeze! NCIS!" Gibbs called out, and the sailor's eyes lit up as mumbled screams came out. The man with the knife, by the name of Brady Smith turned around, the large weapon covered in the red, sticky substance.

"Drop your weapon!" Ziva called out, not moving her gun from her target. Her eyes matched Gibbs as she looked between the two and she nodded, knowing that they both knew that his target was going to be McGee first and then everyone else. He didn't drop his weapon; in fact, he only stood there with it, getting closer to them. Nervousness passed through Tony's eyes and he thought only about Ziva's safety, not McGee's, "I said drop it!" She quickly masked the cracking of her throat as she pointed her gun closer to him.

He just grinned, "Ziva David, I presume." She shared a look with Tony, confused as to how he would know who she was, "See? I was right."

She didn't say anything, in fact, she didn't even move. He turned to McGee, "Timothy…you could help out your friends and just hand over the documents now."

"He doesn't have them." Gibbs coolly said.

"Yeah you do, hand 'em over. Or the password, that's good too."

"He doesn't have them." Gibbs said again, and Brady turned on the boss.

"Hey! Let him speak for himself!"

"All right," He nodded, as he stepped back, taking in a deep breath, "Speak, McGee."

"Why'd you do it?" McGee questioned after a moment of silence crossed between them.

He laughed, "Fun. And besides," He pointed his knife back at the struggling sailor, "He made fun of me in High School. Never liked 'im."

"That's not a good reason. Threatening people's lives like that for nothing." Gibbs spoke back up.

He turned and smirked at Leroy Jethro Gibbs, "We'll see about that once your friends are in danger."

"We're all in danger, Brady." Tony spoke up, and Brady's dagger shooting eyes turned to the senior field agent.

"Ah…Special Agent Anthony DiNozzo." Tony just shared a look with Ziva, their eyes snapping up to the others before back at Brady. He pointed the tip of the knife at Ziva, "You care for your partner?" He questioned, his mouth turning up into an evil smirk. He didn't say anything, and he just stepped half in front of her, almost protecting her as she stepped towards him, "I'll take that as a yes." He smirked, "This should be fun…torturing Federal Agents."

"Drop your weapon or I'll shoot!" Ziva suddenly threatened, pointing her gun around Tony. Brady nodded, almost as if he understood that he had to.

"Fine, fine, I understand." He dropped his weapon onto the ground, and it clanked as Tony and McGee moved towards him to handcuff him. Suddenly, he pulled out a gun and pointed it at the opponent. Ziva's heart started racing. _Tony. _

"TONY!" She screamed as he fired. In a split second, she grabbed the knife concealed at her waist, threw it precisely at Brady at the same time that she tackled Tony to the ground, protecting him. She closed her eyes against his body and took in his warm heat, their chests against each other, breathing heavily.

She heard another body that wasn't Brady's, Tony's, or hers hit the ground and she got off of Tony, her eyes wide, realizing that Tony wasn't shot.

McGee was.

**Very short, I know, but it's going to be like a five chapter story or something like that. Review? Please?**


	2. Bethesda

Ziva rolled off of Tony and then, with shaky hands, applied pressure to the junior field agents wound. His face winced in pain as she shouted at Tony, "Tony! Call 911! We need medics, fast!"

Agent Gibbs watched Ziva with angry eyes. She had disobeyed a direct order. She was supposed to protect McGee and yet she protected her partner more. He moved towards the sailor that was tied up and decided to take him down as Tony started feverishly talking on the phone. With blood covered hands, Ziva stood up from the panting McGee and grabbed Tony's jacket, pulling him close to him and unzipping his jacket and his bullet vest before nearly ripping off his tie. Tony just stood there, letting his body get thrashed around as he continued to talk quickly on the phone to 911.

Once she was done ripping off his tie, she moved over to McGee, who was panting more heavily now, groaning some as he lay there, arms wide on the ground. She tore off his jacket and his bullet vest, which didn't obviously help, as she wrapped the tie around his arm, trying to cut off the blood flow.

"Tony!" She cried, "Help me!" He bent down next to her, and he helped her tie the tie tighter around him.

"OW!" McGee called out, screaming into the empty warehouse as Gibbs and the sailor, limping as he supported his weight on Gibbs's shoulder approached them. Ziva winced at the sound of pain that McGee was causing.

"I am so sorry, Tim." She mumbled as she turned to look at Tony. No words were spoken; they just stared at each other before Tony broke the stare and looked up at his boss.

"Paramedics should be here momentarily, boss." He said, and Gibbs nodded, still pissed over the fact that Ziva had not protected McGee.

"Ziva…." McGee panted, his shaking hands grasping the bottom of her jacket. She wrapped her hands tighter around his wound, hoping to stop the blood flow that was now seeping through her fingers, "It's o….kay…."

"No, it's not. I should have protected you!" She argued.

"Medics here!" Tony's voice broke through as Ziva finally recognized the whirring of sirens enter the warehouse. Two yellow stretchers were brought in. They shouted orders at each other as Tony grabbed Ziva's arm, pulling her away from the scene.

The rest of the minutes that flew by were just a blur to Ziva, her heart pounding in her ears, she could feel Gibbs glare into her, and she wanted to wince away from it, but she knew that she couldn't. She had screwed up, big time. She was on protection detail for _McGee. _Protection detail for _Timothy McGee. _Protection detail not for Anthony DiNozzo. Just the thought of him made her heart flutter. She ground her teeth together. _This is mad! You are too crazy in love with him! You're screwing up! You know that this would jeopardize your work ethics! You knew and yet you continue to love him and let him love you. Did it really have to take someone getting hurt for you to realize that? _

"Ziva." She heard her name float back into reality, and it was only then that she realized that she was no longer staring at McGee and the sailor in the warehouse, but instead, she was staring at McGee and the sailor, both on gurneys, being rolled through the ER doors.

She turned quickly and saw Tony standing behind her, "Tony." She nodded, taking in the bloody hand marks on his white dress shirt, and the pulled on collar that he wore as well. She looked down and then realized that most of her body was covered in McGee's blood, and she was still wearing her bullet proof vest. It didn't really bother her much, she realized, but then she realized that he was practically family for her; of course it didn't matter.

"Ziva…" He started, sighing as he looked down and scratched his head. She took in a deep breath. She knew that look.

"What? He's not-"

"Why do you assume something's wrong?" he demanded, looking up and to the left, refusing to look at her, still.

"Well the looking at the ground, the scratching of the head, all signs that something is wrong, Tony. Tell me." He sighed and extended his hand towards her. She furrowed her eyebrows together and then noticed that there was a cell phone in Tony's hands…his cell phone, "A cell phone, Tony?" She questioned, confused.

"Yeah." He said, "Gibbs said you have to make the call."

"What call? To who?" She gulped, realization taking form in her brain, "He's dead, is he not? I should have paid more attention…I should not have…" She didn't want to make the call to Director Vance that McGee was dead, or his parents for that matter…or his sister…oh god, she could almost hear the poor girl's sobs…

"Ziva. The call." He shook the phone once again, "To Abby."

Her eyes snapped up to his and her eyes glazed over in fear.

Oh no, this was much worse.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Glad you could come, Duck." Gibbs said as Ducky appeared from the elevator in Bethesda Naval Hospital.

"Oh, Jethro!" He stepped back a moment, placing a hand to his chest, "You startled me."

He just gave a half smile as he lightly placed his hand on the back of the ME's back and pushed him forward, "McGee was shot. I need you to take a look at the x-rays and files, see how far the bullet penetrated while he's still in emergency surgery."

"Who's the medical doctor taking care of young Timothy?" Ducky asked as Jethro handed him the manila file folder. He took it and continued to walk with Jethro down the hallway.

"Doctor Brad Pitt." He smiled.

"Ah," Ducky smiled back, "The same good fellow that took care of Anthony when he had the plague."

"Agent Gibbs?" Jethro turned to see Dr. Pitt walking towards them.

"Doctor Pitt." He shook his hand.

"Nice to see you again, Agent Gibbs! Well actually, it isn't, but you understand what I'm saying." His tone suddenly changed, "How's Tony?"

"Tony's doing well. Doing well." He nodded.

"And Agent Todd?"

Gibbs took in a short breath, "Dead."

He looked startled. Whether it was by the fact that Kate Todd was dead, or by the fact that Gibbs was so short and barely phased by his answer, he didn't understand, "I'm…I'm sorry to hear that. She seemed like a nice woman."

"She was." Gibbs quickly changed the subject, "Agent McGee?"

"Ah yes, Timothy McGee. He's doing very well, actually. The bullet came out with ease. They're just stitching him back up and he'll be put into ICU. He's doing quite well." Out of the corner of Gibbs eye, he could see Ziva pacing back and forth in front of Tony, who was sitting in a chair. She was talking on the phone, obviously annoyed with the conversation at hand, and he could hear her Israeli voice saying over and over again, _'He's fine…Abby, he's…he's fine…Abby I assure…Abby!' _ Gibbs just gave a small smirk, which Doctor Pitt noticed wasn't for him, and he turned to see what he was looking at.

Frustrated, Ziva snapped the phone shut and handed it to Tony before taking a seat next to him and turning her head to talk quietly to him.

"Ah, there's Agent DiNozzo." He smiled, "He seems to be doing well."

"Hey, DiNozzo!" Gibbs barked, rather loudly, and both their heads snapped away from each other and towards their boss. They both stood up, Tony grinning like an idiot as they made their way over to where he, Ducky, and Dr. Pitt stood. Tony outstretched his arms.

"Doctor Pitt!" He smiled, "how goes it?" He just patted his shoulder, much to Tony's dismay.

"Rather well. And you? How are your lungs holding up?"

"Lungs?" Ziva interrupted, and she pointed to Dr. Pitt, looking at Tony, "This was the doctor that took care of you when you had the plague."

"Yeah, Ziva, that would be him." He said, turning his attention back to his doctor. Ziva, however, seemed exceptionally interested in him.

"Ziva David." She outstretched her hand to him, and Dr. Pitt looked down at it and then shook his head.

"Maybe if you washed them off."

She looked down and noticed that it was covered in blood still. She frowned and nodded, feeling horrible at the moment. She just looked down at her feet and twiddled with her thumbs. Tony noticed this, but chose not to address it. Dr. Pitt, however, noticed Tony's attention to the foreign woman next to him, and he took special notice to it. But, he too did not address it.

"Uh…Boss, Ziva and I are just gonna go get cleaned up. Be back in a second." Gibbs nodded and motioned for them to go away.

"Go. Go." Tony grabbed Ziva's arm and then pulled her around the corner, pressing the button to call the elevator. The elevator doors opened and three people walked out, thankfully leaving the elevator empty. He dragged her in and didn't want to risk pressing the emergency stop button so he just turned to her, quickly.

"Ziva, I…" He started, but he couldn't finish, for he was suddenly thrown backwards, her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling his body close to him, burying her head into his neck. He sighed and relaxed, wrapping his arms around her as well, tightly, as if someone was going to take her away from him.

"Tony…." She murmured her breath warm against his chest, "It's my fault…" He kissed her softly on the side of the head.

"No it's not…shh…Ziva…" She just tightened her grip on him as he quickly removed a hand and ran his fingers over all of the buttons, pressing all of the floors. He returned his hand to her head, where he ran his hand over her hair, "Shh…Ziva…" He murmured before burying his face into her hair.

"Tony…it's all my fault!" She cried, and he just kissed the side of her head again and again, hoping that the pain would go away, "McGee is on the brink of life and death because of me! Because I let my feelings take control instead of my…my mission! My protection detail! Gibbs blames me, I know, everyone blames me! I…I blame myself! I was…I was too concerned with you…I…I…."

He just pulled her closer as she cried tearlessly into him, "Oh Ziva…"


	3. 0200h

"Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod, Ohmygod." Abby continued to yell as her boots clanked into the Emergency Unit, causing many to move out of the way and for her to pass by. Gibbs shot his head up.

"Oh god…" He muttered before standing up as she skidded to a stop in front of him, her ponytails still moving back and forth from momentum, "Abs." he said.

"Ohmygod, Gibbs!" Her voice cracked, "Timmy! Timmy! I get a call in the middle of the night saying that…that our McGee has been shot!" She started pacing in front of him, "is he okay? I mean, is he safe? Ohmygod, don't tell me he's dead. What if he's dead? I couldn't stand it if he's dead. Ohmygod…" She stopped pacing, her boots clinking to a stop as she stared with wide eyes at Gibbs, "He's not dead, is he? Oh Gibbs, please tell he's not dead!" She hollered, her voice strained and even higher pitched than normal. He placed his hands on her shoulders, stopping her.

"Abby. McGee's fine."

"No! No, he's not fine!" She protested, "He's…He's in that Emergency Room!" Behind her, the elevator doors opened, and revealed Tony and Ziva to Gibbs' eyes, for Abby's back was turned to them.

"Abs…"

"Don't 'Abs' me! Where was his protection huh, Gibbs? Where? If Ziva would just learn to follow orders…I thought she learned this in Mossad! What did they learn there?" Ziva stopped as she heard Abby's words, and she furrowed her eyebrows together, confused. Tony stopped and stared with a complex look on his face as well.

"Zi?" He questioned, but Ziva ignored him.

"It's Ziva's fault McGee's in there!" She cried, "It's her fault, Gibbs! Don't deny it!" Ziva cringed away. _That's what she really thinks of me? _

Gibbs noticed Ziva's facial expression and he shook Abby's shoulders, "Abby." He said, firmly.

"What? You're agreeing with me?" She questioned, and Gibbs didn't say anything "What Gibbs?" She questioned, exasperated, "What?"

"Abs." Tony spoke up, softly and she turned around before she spotted Ziva, her arms crossed, staring with utter confusion and disbelief on her face. She couldn't believe that Abby would really…

"Oh, Ziva…I…"

Ziva, however, didn't say anything. She just turned around and promptly left, not wanting to say anything. She didn't know where she was going, and to be honest, she didn't care. The one person she needed to talk to was Tony, and she knew that in a matter of hours he'd be standing out of her apartment, wanting to talk to her. But to be honest. She didn't want to talk to him anymore. She just wanted to be alone with her thoughts, to try and figure it all out. She knew she was in trouble, she knew that she had screwed up…massively. She hated the feeling; she hated it completely. Maybe falling in love with him was the absolute worst thing she could have done. She groaned and pressed the button for the garage, pulling out her cell phone and calling a Taxi to come and pick her up.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Four hours later, it was a new day, in fact, it was two hours into the new day, and Ziva couldn't sleep without replaying the scene over and over again in her mind. She lay on her couch hoping that at some moment she would pass out from exhaustion. However she felt very, _very _awake and alert, as if she had woken up just minutes earlier. The wine glass that she had poured herself a couple of hours ago was still untouched in her hand, and she didn't know how long it was that she stared at the wall. She needed something to distract herself with so that she wouldn't see McGee getting shot no matter what she stared at.

Groaning in frustration, she stood up and went to dump her wine away in the kitchen. She poured it into the sink and then started back into the living room when she stopped in the middle of the doorway, staring at Tony who had just opened up the door. Their eyes met for maybe a second before they both parted their separate ways. She sat down on the couch, clasping her hands together between her legs and looking down at the floor underneath her. Tony hung up his jacket and started talking as he placed his SIG and his badge on the small table by the doorway.

"So Abby says sorry." He said, starting to break the awkward tension that seemed to be looming like a dark cloud in the small room. He took a quick glance at his girlfriend and then realized that she wasn't going to say anything. He finished putting down his gear, "And Gibbs said…" he let out a huff, "That he gives you permission to stay home tomorrow." Again, silence was his answer. He stared at her for a moment before starting towards her. She didn't look up at him, "And McGee-" He started, but he was met with a huff and a storming towards the bedroom door. He froze for a moment and then leaped into action, darting in front of her and barricading his body in front of the door.

"Tony. Move. Do not make me _force _you to." She growled through clenched teeth.

He just grinned, "Fine, _David, _use force." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively, "I like a little physical contact anyways." She groaned in frustration and tried to move around him. He moved in her path.

"Look, I do not want to talk about it." She said, sighing as she closed her eyes, "I am just tired, now could you please move, Tony?"

"You're _tired_?" he asked, smiling a little at her lame excuse, "Aw, come on now, Zi, I know you can lie better than that. If you were tired, then you could have gone to bed earlier."

"I am…I am tired now. Now move away from the door."

"You didn't go to sleep 'cause you were waiting for me to come home, weren't ya? You wanted to have passionate sex on your bed, didn't you?"

She sighed and closed her eyes, taking in a deep breath. She really didn't want to talk to him right now, "Fine." She gave out another exasperated sigh, "You're right."

"I am?" He asked, confused.

"Yes…" She said, being dramatic, "Take me right here!" She exclaimed, pulling her shirt over her head and wrapping her arms around his neck, quickly pulling him down into a passionate kiss. He groaned in happiness as he quickly became aroused, and she slyly moved him away from the door, so that she was in front of it and not him. Reaching down she fumbled with the handle to the door as Tony fumbled with the buttons of his shirt. Just as the door opened she pulled back into her bedroom, slamming the door in his face. She locked it right before he screamed out.

"Hey!" He banged on the door, "Open up!" he banged again, "Ziva!"

"Goodnight, Tony." She said, changing into her pajamas, crawling into bed. Even though she knew she wasn't going to get any sleep. A couple of minutes later, after another attempt to fall asleep without thinking about McGee getting shot, because of her, she heard the door silently open. The bed dipped and he crawled under the covers, "I thought I told you to go away." She muttered.

"You forgot who taught me how to pick a lock."

"I would have done it faster." She retorted back, keeping her eyes closed and her back away from him. He propped up against one elbow and looked at her in the darkness, the only light coming from the moon in the small window she had at her flat.

He grinned, "Yeah, well I can definitely pick a lock faster than McGee." She felt a shudder rush through her at the sound of his name as she pulled the covers tighter around her, burying her head deeper into the pillow. Tony's smile faltered as he realized his mistake, "Oh…I….I'm sorry Z…"

"It's okay." She interrupted, and she noticed that her voice cracked as she said it, "Just go to bed, Tony." She mumbled, turning her face into the pillow so that he couldn't see her cry. McGee was family to her…if she acted like this with _Tim _she couldn't even think about how she would act if it was Tony who was shot. Hysterics, utter chaos. Those phrases came to mind. She felt arms around her shoulders, soft but strong, pulling her body towards his. She automatically laid her head down onto his chest, the warmth good on the side of her cheeks, his chest moving rhythmically, soothingly. He purred her name into her ear, so softly that most people probably wouldn't even know that he was speaking.

He stroked her head as she lay with eyes wide open, almost in fear, staring at nothing in particular, thinking only about the terror that had happened today. It was a shot. It was one shot to McGee's shoulder, a bullet wound that could ultimately cause him to bleed to death all because she didn't do her protection duty. No, in fact, she didn't do protection duty for McGee…she did protection duty for her heart.


	4. Closet

Ziva awoke from her deep, peaceful slumber to the smell of fresh pancakes and maple syrup. The smell of coffee and sugar also passed through her nostrils and she smiled, peeking an eye open to look at the clock time. 700h. She sighed. She should have been at the hospital by now. But then again, Gibbs did tell her to take the day off, and McGee…she groaned and threw her legs over the side of the bed, sitting up and staring down at the ground, trying to clear her head. Feeling well enough, she got up and pulled her hair back into a bun as she started out of the bedroom and into the kitchen, where Tony stood, humming an 80s song that only he would know in front of the stove, a large pile of pancakes next to him.

The frying pan handle was in his right hand, and he was moving back and forth, singing and trying to dance to the music, "Rooooooxxxxxannnnneeee…" He yelled, "You don't have to put on the red light! Those days are over!" She smiled and leant up against the side of the door. She recognized the song.

"You don't have to sell your body to the night." She finished for him, not bothering to sing. He quickly stopped and turned around, flashing her his famous 'DiNozzo' grin at her.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty." He said, and she walked towards him, watching him as he put another pancake on the same stack before pouring another one, "You know that song?"

"When I was over at your apartment I was searching through your CD's while waiting for you to finish taking a shower. It was by….the Police, yes?"

"Very good, Ziva," He smiled, leaning down towards her, "But you don't have to worry about me selling my body to the night."

"Oh, trust me." She whispered back, in the same husky voice, "You're not the one I am worried about." She grinned as she placed her lips on his for a short kiss. He just laughed as she pulled back.

"You're a sneaky woman, you know that, ninja?"

"Yes." She grinned, walking towards the table as she looked over her shoulder at him, "But that is why you fancy me so, yes?"

"I find you irresistible, Zee-vah." He smiled, and she smiled back as he turned off the stove and brought over the pancakes, placing them down on the table in front of her.

"Good." She said, before brushing past him and taking a seat.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Abby's face was pressed up against the window to McGee's ICU unit, "Gibbs!" She whined, "Please don't tell me it's true."

He just pulled her into his arms and rubbed her back, "I'm sorry, Abs." He whispered, mentally slapping himself for showing a sign of weakness. But then again, this was Abby.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"You seem to be feeling better today." Tony smiled as he looked over at Ziva.

"Yes, I do. I still feel horribly guilty, but I think that rest has cleared my brain. As long as I get my mind off of McGee I think I will be fine." She sighed, looking down at the table, stabbing her fork absentmindedly at nothing.

"Hey." Tony said, squeezing her hand, "Keep your head up, sweetheart, okay?"

She smiled back, a small, closed one as she squeezed his hand back, "Okay."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"I'm afraid it is true, Miss Scuito, Timothy McGee has in fact slipped into a coma."

"But…but….but…" She stuttered, "McGee? Are you sure? You may be confused with another Timothy McGee. I mean, did you know that statistically there are like 1 million, 4 hundred and 56 different 'Tim McGee's' in America? I mean, that's a lot to get confused with!"

"Miss." Dr. Pitt said, sighing, "I definitely know what Tim McGee I'm talking about."

"But-" Abby started, whining again, but she was stopped by the sound of someone asking for Agent Gibbs.

"Agent Gibbs? Do you know who Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs is?" She was asking people, and Abby quickly moved towards them. Doctor Pitt sighed and then thanked the lord that that _wonderful _woman had gotten Abby away so that he could complete his work.

"I know who Gibbs is!" She piped up, stopping the woman in her tracks. Confused, she clung to the man next to her. She was an older woman, red head, with lovely blue eyes. Her husband, she figured, was brown haired and blue eyed, a forming bald spot on the top of his head. She pointed to Gibbs, who stood talking to Ducky in front of McGee's ICU room "Right there. The silver haired fox. I'm Abby Scuito, his forensic scientist." She grinned, trying to act happy, even though inside she wanted to kill Ziva for putting McGee in the coma, "May I ask who you two are?"

"I'm Teresa Schmidt and this is my husband, Randy Schmidt. We're…we're Curtis Schmidt's parents." Abby formed an 'o' with her mouth, recognizing the name as their sailor that was currently in ICU, awake, fresh from surgery. She suddenly threw her arms around the woman just as Gibbs turned around, confused to see his forensic scientist hugging a random woman, who seemed to be struggling in her grip.

"Hey, Abs!" Gibbs yelled, before starting towards them, "Abs!"

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Thank…" He kissed her, "You…" Another kiss, "For…" He kissed her again, "Making…" She kissed let him kiss her one more time, "Breakfast." A longer kiss followed as he started her out of the kitchen and into the living room. He pulled back and placed his forehead against hers, smiling down into her eyes.

"Welcome." He grinned, "Anytime." He said as he pressed his lips against hers once again, slowly leading her down until she managed to lie down on the couch. His lips never left hers as she wrapped her arms around his waist, holding onto the small of his back as he placed one hand behind her head, grabbing onto her neck and pushing her towards him. He placed his other hand on the back of the couch, steadying himself as she started pulling his shirt off. He pulled back as she managed to only get it to his armpits. She groaned.

"You know, you really know how to kill a mood." She growled, "Are you going to let me take your shirt off or not?"

He sighed, "You sure you want to do this now?" He asked, and she promptly smacked him across the face.

"Never ask me that again." She said through gritted teeth, moving towards him as he pulled back, away from him, "Or I _will _kill you with a paperclip next time." She threatened before leaning back against the couch and ripping off the rest of his shirt. She grinned, wrapping her arm around his neck, "Now. Where were we?" He grinned as he pulled off her shirt as well, revealing her naked torso to him.

He laughed as he reached into her pants, slyly, and squeezed her ass, "You really know how to kill a mood, don't you?"

"Shut up." She murmured under his lips, "You cannot use the same thing I used." She said as he looped his fingers through her panties as pulled both her panties and her pants down at the same time. She reached for the jeans he must have slipped on that morning, unzipping them. She managed to get them to his knees, revealing his solid colored boxers when a knock was heard on the door. She pulled away from him so that she looked at the door, "Who is it?" She called.

"Abby! Open up, Ziva! It's cold out here!" They both looked at each other with worried expressions before they quickly stood up.

"Just a second!" She called. Tony grabbed his shirt off of the floor and she slipped hers on as he held his pants up. She hurried him into the bedroom, pushing on his back the entire time. She threw open her closet door, "Get in there!" She hissed through gritted teeth, putting up a finger into his face, "You so much as breath the wrong way and I will kill you, understand?" He nodded as she lowered her finger. Abby knocked at the door again.

"Ziva!" She whined, "I need to talk to you and it's freezing out here!" She called, knocking again, "Let me in!"

"Love you." She said, quickly as he pressed his lips against hers for a short kiss.

"Love you." He said back before the door was slammed in his face as she headed quickly out of the bedroom and towards the door before she noticed that Tony's jacket, badge, and SIG were sitting there. She opened up the crate next to it and chucked the jacket in before sliding the stuff into the crate and kicking it closed with her foot. She opened up the door and let her in, where she was shivering, warming up her arms by rubbing her hands against them.

"Jeez, Ziva, what were you doing?" She questioned, "I was freezing out there!"

"I was uh…getting dressed." She lied, and Abby raised an eyebrow, looking at her outfit.

"Well it doesn't look like you finished." She giggled, "It looks like you just rolled out of bed." Ziva felt nervous, "Come on. I need to talk to you, solely a girl to girl thing."

"Abby, with that comment yester…"

"No." She cut her off, putting her hand up before grabbing her arm, "Come on. You get dressed and I'll talk." She said, pushing her into the bedroom as Ziva protested.

"Abby, I do not think that this is such a good idea…" Abby closed the door to the bedroom behind her, eyeing Ziva, who stood nervously in the middle of her bedroom. Thank god Tony didn't leave any clothes on the floor in her place…well, that was a lie. He did. At least he didn't leave any last night, and thank god she had cleaned up her bedroom last night, trying to keep her mind off of McGee.

"How is McGee doing?" Ziva questioned, slyly glancing at the closet door for a millisecond. If Tony so much as moved the wrong way…

"Oh. That's kinda what I wanted to talk to you about. He's in a coma, Ziva! A coma!" She sobbed, tears forming in her eyes as she wrapped her friend in a hug. She hugged her back, unsure of what else to do, "I can't believe it! Our Timmy, _my _Timmy, a coma!"

"Oh, Abby. I am so…sorry." Guilt flew back to her as she held the forensic scientist. She knew that she had feelings for McGee, I mean, anyone could see that, "I feel so horrible."

"Yeah, I know. You should. I mean, it's your fault." She shrugged, as if it was a normal day occurrence as she let go of the now confused Israeli.

"You know what, I need something to keep my mind off of Timmy."

"Me too." She said, "Me too. I could barely sleep last night. I kept…seeing him…get shot…."

She sighed, "I don't want to talk about it, Ziva." She said, starting towards her closet, "I wanna pick out your clothes!" Ziva's eyes grew wide in fear as she quickly moved in front of her, barricading herself in front of closet door, her body booming against it quite similar to a move that Tony played on her last night, "No!" She yelled, and then realized that that sounded too scared, "No." She repeated in a different tone.

"Well why not?" She questioned, placing her hands on her hips.

"Look, Abby," She smiled, a tight, closed smile, "It's not that I don't like you, it's just that I would like to get dressed…alone…"

"Aw, come on, Ziva, I'm sure you have a beautiful wardrobe!" She said, reaching for the handle. She turned it and Ziva pressed her back up against it as Abby tried to open it. It closed again, "Ziva!" She yelled, "Let go! Your clothes are amazing, I'm sure. Any clothes that would make Tony go bananas…" She tugged again, this time with enough force that knocked Ziva over, the closet door opening as Abby stared in shock at the semi-naked DiNozzo standing there, his fly unzipped, his pants open, standing in Ziva's closet. The two partner's locked eyes of fear as Abby's jaw dropped as she turned to the Israeli.

She pointed to Tony, "ZIVA! YOU'RE SLEEPING WITH TONY?!" Ziva just looked down at the ground, refusing to make eye contact with anyone, "Why didn't you tell me?!"


	5. Abby's Request

After Tony pulled on his shirt and was thrown out of the closet by Abby, they both sat down on the bed, looking nervously at one another. Ziva picked at her fingernails, a bad habit she picked up as a child, and looked around at anything but Abby.

"You two are _sleeping together_?" She wailed for about the fifth time in the past couple of minutes.

"Abby." Ziva said, firmly, "That is not the most important thing to think about right now."

"Yeah, Zi's right. We really should be getting to the hospital. McDead would have a McHeartattack while McWaiting for McUs."

"That is a lot of 'Mc's, Tony." Ziva commented.

Abby sighed, "Fine." She then crossed her arms and glared at them, "But before we go. One more thing."

Ziva sighed and sat back down, from where she was about to get up from, "What?" She demanded.

She grinned largely, "Kiss! Duh! I just want to see how amazing you two are together! You're _perfect _for each other!"

"Abby?" Tony questioned, "I mean, I know it's you we're talking about, but isn't that a little…awkward?"

"Tony, nothing with you is awkward. Now kiss or else I'll tell Gibbs about your relationship!" Staring wide eyed at each other, Tony spoke up first.

"Aw, come on, Abs! You wouldn't really do that to me, right?" He grinned his famous smile at her, a little nervously, Ziva noted, and Abby just narrowed her eyes to slits at him. She reached into her pocket and flipped open her sticker covered, red Motorola Razor.

"Watch me." She gave them a closed smile, pressing a few buttons and then turning the phone around to face them, showing Gibbs number on the screen.

"Abby…"

"Do it! Or I will kill you both without leaving any forensic evidence!" She shouted, and they turned to each other on the bed, "Kiss!" She squealed, and Tony carefully moved towards her, just like the first time that they kissed a couple of months ago. Stopping just centimeters from her lips, Abby's low squeal building in the background, Tony pulled away.

"Abs, this is really awkward." Tony admitted, but before Abby could say anything, Ziva wrapped her arms quickly and tightly around Tony's neck, pulling his head towards her and pressing her lips against his. He moaned and opened his mouth for her as he pulled her into his lap, his arms around her waist.

"Awww! You two are so adorable!" Abby exclaimed, but they didn't listen, they were too caught up in the other. Ziva's hands were in his hair, running them through and twisting up the little hair she could around her fingers, "Uh…guys?" She questioned, "Guys? You can stop now." They didn't listen, in fact, they just continued, "Tony?" She asked, "Ziva?" They finally pulled back for air, breathing heavily as they rested their foreheads against each other.

"Love you." She whispered, finding it easier to say the more she said it. She pressed her lips to his one time, their lips warm and soft against each other.

"You don't have to say that." He whispered, "I know." He breathed, grinning his famous 'DiNozzo' grin.

"Yes, but I want you to hear it." She smiled back, staring deep into his beautiful green eyes. Finally catching their breath, after staring into each other's eyes for a while, they turned to look at Abby, realizing that she was there, but they came to the conclusion that she left while they were…entangled…in each other.

Getting off of Tony, Ziva decided to get dressed, all thoughts of McGee and how horrible she felt about the whole situation flooding back to her. She glanced back and saw Tony pulling off his pants, his back turned to her. She nodded and then started into the bathroom, closing the door behind her. She definitely wasn't going to let Tony know how she felt about this.

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

The elevator doors pinged open and Tony and Ziva stepped out, walking side by side towards Gibbs, who was still talking to Ducky in front of McGee's ICU room. Gibbs glanced towards the pair as they stopped in front of him before turning back and looking into the room.

"DiNozzo," Gibbs nodded, acknowledging his presence, but not turning to look at him.

Tony and Ziva exchanged glances, "Uh…boss?"

"What?" He asked, almost exasperated.

"Ziva's here too…boss…" Gibbs turned half-way and looked at his senior field agent as if he had made another stupid comment.

"Yeah, I know that, DiNozzo."

Tony looked around, as if waiting for the boss to give him something other than that. Gibbs just stared at him, "Well? Aren't you going to acknowledge her presence as well?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "Well, if she acknowledged her presence at the warehouse, then McGee would be walking, and we'd be in NCIS headquarters, right now. In the bullpen. Doing paperwork." He turned back to the glass, as if he was finished. Tony suddenly was overcome with the feeling to punch something. He grabbed his boss's shoulder and turned him around, nearly shoving him up against the wall.

"Uh, uh, Gibbs. We're gonna have a talk. Right now."

Gibbs nodded, unfazed, "All right, DiNozzo. Lead the way." He gestured to his right, and Tony pulled him that way, towards the vending machines, leaving Ducky and Ziva behind in front of McGee's room.

"Ducky, I bolted up." She said, solemnly. Ducky gave a sad smile.

"Ziva, dear, I believe the term you're searching for is 'screwed' up, not bolted." She turned slowly to look into McGee's room, a sleeping and rather peaceful looking junior agent lying on the bed. He had several cuts to his face, from where he fell down onto the ground, but the biggest wound was the large bandage, cast, and sling-like object that was on his left shoulder.

Many tubes were attached to him, a couple to his face, such as his nose and other parts, feeding him emergency oxygen, water, and food.

She could feel the tears rise to her eyes and she blinked them away with such a force she almost blinked away her own eyelashes.

"Ziva?" Ducky questioned, confused. He looked between her and McGee before walking slowly towards her, "Ziva? Are you all right, dear?"

"Oh, Ducky," She sniffed, "This should not have happened."

He sighed, "Ziva…" He started, and then he opened up his arms wide, waiting for her. She glanced at him and then looked back at McGee before she looked back at him again, "Come on." He said, beckoning her towards him. She moved into his embrace, hugging him tightly.

"Abby blames me. Gibbs blames me." She muttered, angrily into Ducky's shoulder. He patted her back, soothingly.

"Ziva, you seem different." He noted, pulling back a little to look into her eyes, "What's wrong? What has brought on such emotions?" _Tony. Tony! _She wanted to scream it. She wanted to shout it to the world. Tony. TONY.

She just let go of the doctor, "Tell Tony I am going back home." She heard herself say as she started towards the elevator again, realizing that she was, in fact, not ready for this, even though she had had a wonderful morning with Tony, besides the Abby fiasco.

As Ducky watched her retreating form, he gave a small smirk, "Ah. That's the reason." He turned to the side and watched Tony and Gibbs talking, well, scratch that, Tony yelling at Gibbs, who was sitting in a seat, drinking coffee. He sighed, "Tony DiNozzo...what have you done now?"

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony nearly threw Gibbs at the vending machine. Gibbs just calmly walked over to the coffee dispenser, put his dollar in, and got his cup of black coffee. He took a sip and then made a face before taking another sip. It may have tasted horrible, but coffee was coffee.

"You gonna talk?" he asked his senior field agent, who stood fuming with glaring eyes at him. He held out his hands to the sides, "What'd I do wrong, DiNozzo?"

"You know damn well, boss." He muttered, and Gibbs just took another sip of coffee before moving past him and taking a seat in one of the blue waiting chairs.

"Enlighten me."

"You can't just tell those things to people! You don't just tell Ziva that it's all her fault! I was with her all last night, boss, the subject is very tender for her. I mentioned McGee's name once, in a joke, and she didn't talk to me. She refused to talk to me. She turned away from me and wrapped her arms around herself,"He nearly shouted, "She's in a very fragile state of mind. The wrong thing and she's off. So you don't blame her, got me?"

Gibbs just took another sip of his coffee and looked up at Tony, resting his elbows on his thighs, the cup of coffee grasped in his hands between his legs, "And why the sudden change of heart, DiNozzo?" He questioned. Tony looked taken back at the sound of the question, as if he had caught him in a lie or something.

"She's my partner, boss. Just trying to keep her in a good state of mind." He said, thinking of the fastest lie he could think of. _Thank god I took that drama class in college…improv….yes!_

Gibbs stood up and looked Tony straight in the eyes, "Just what the hell did you two do last night?"

"We uh…talked…boss…"

"Ah," He smirked, looking down at his coffee before looking back up at Tony, "I see." He said, turning away from him, his mouth slightly open, "I understand…DiNozzo." He started to walk away when Tony grabbed onto his boss's arm.

"Gibbs." He said, looking straight into his eyes, "Ziva didn't do anything wrong. Take that into consideration." He nodded, and Tony nodded back, understanding. Gibbs started to walk away.

"You do the same, DiNozzo." He called, taking the last sip of his coffee, "You do the same."


	6. Goodbye

Tony spotted Ducky in front of McGee's ICU room. Tony couldn't bear to look at his co-worker lying there. Sure, I mean, he was probie, but he was still Tim. And Tim was like the little brother he never had. Which he loved. He could barely look in Gibbs direction when he was in the hospital, even when he got out, much less spend the night with him. He shuddered at the thought, even though he was royally pissed off at his boss.

"Hey, Ducky." Tony called, and he turned around.

"Anthony." He acknowledged.

"Where'd Ziva go?" he asked, making sure to look only into the eyes of the doctor in front of him.

"Home. She told me to tell you. By the way…" He turned to look at him, "Mind telling a poor Scottish lad just exactly what's going on between you two?"

Tony blinked. Once, Twice.

"Thanks, Ducky." He nodded before turning quickly on his heel and starting towards the elevator. Once the ME was sure that Tony couldn't hear him anymore, for Agent DiNozzo stepped in the elevator, he sighed and stared at the unmoving McGee.

"I understand what's going on. They may not, but I do. They obviously care very deeply for one another. And you just had to be the one that got shot…"

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony opened up the door to Ziva's apartment, which he now occupied as well. He dropped his things, which he found earlier this morning shoved in the crate by the door, and then scanned the apartment for Ziva, his nose guiding him the entire way. Her distinctive smell was very enticing to his nostrils, and he wanted to smell it.

Realizing that she wasn't in the living room, he poked his head into the kitchen and then pulled it back out before he walked into her…their…bedroom. Nope, not there either. But Ducky _said _that she went home…

Just as he was about to leave the bedroom, he heard a distinct sniffle from inside the bathroom. _Of course. _He thought as he neared the closed door, the light coming out from the crack at the bottom. Hesitating only a moment, he finally opened it up, revealing their bathroom to his eyes. She was lying in the tub, it full of bubbles, her eyes closed, but still puffy. He neared her, but she didn't look up at him. He stopped in front of her, and he could see the dried tears that had trickled out from under her eyes.

Without warning, she suddenly stood up and flung herself at him, the bath water sloshing as she sobbed into his shirt. She didn't want to feel this way, she didn't know why she was feeling this way, but then it hit her. She loved McGee. Not in the way that she loved Tony, of course, but she truly realized what feeling this way meant. It meant that she cared. She knew that she cared, she did, but as time flew by, she created a bond between her teammates. Especially Tony. _Stop thinking about Tony. _Her mind shouted at her, _That's the reason he's in a coma right now in the hospital. Because you couldn't think of anything but Tony…Tony…Tony…_

Tony just pulled his arms tighter around his girlfriend, basking in the scent of warm vanilla sugar, thanks to the bubbles that were starting to pop and evaporate off of her olive toned skin. For the first time in what felt like his entire life, Tony DiNozzo was holding a beautiful, naked woman in his hands, probably one of the hottest and more exotic that he'd ever met, and he wasn't completely aroused. In fact, the only thing he wanted to do with her right now was hold her and make her feel better. He sighed and held her tighter as he breathed in her scent. His hands didn't want to roam, squeeze her ass, trace the lines he knew oh so well in her back, cup the sides of her breasts…no. He just wanted to hold her. And all Tony could think was, _So this is what true love feels like. _And his brain wasn't fighting the thought. And his heart didn't speed up at the thought.

For this exchange, no words were spoken.

Because they didn't need to be.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Gibbs watched Abby as she brought in a vase of black roses into McGee's ICU unit. He was going to stop her and tell her that black probably wasn't the best color, but he decided not to. She was dressed completely in black, not that that was overly odd, but she wasn't wearing any other color. She had a black hat on, a lace veil in front of it. Ducky and Gibbs shared confused looks with each other, but then both decided to drop it. Bert under her arm, she sauntered into McGee's room and placed the flowers down on the window sill before grabbing a chair and sitting down next to him.

She placed her hand onto his and stroked the back of his hand, "Oh McGee…" She started.

Gibbs and Ducky, feeling like outsiders looking in, watched as Abby's black covered lips started to speak, mumbling words to McGee, her hand never leaving his.

"How long's he gonna stay in a coma, Duck?" Gibbs questioned, his eyes not leaving McGee and Abby. He was fixated on them.

"Depends on the amount of blood that poor boy lost. Which I do not know the numbers for at the moment."

"Whoa!" Dr. Brad Pitt suddenly exclaimed from behind them. Gibbs and Ducky turned to look at him, "Did he…did he die?"

Gibbs' heart almost skipped a beat, but he just stared at him, "No. Why?"

"She's…she's dressed like she's going to a funeral."

"Nope, that's just Abs." He grinned as Brad started to walk away before Ducky caught up to him.

"Dr. Pitt…I was just wondering…"

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva leaned up against Tony as he helped her into the bedroom, not to throw her down and have passionate sex with her, no, he wouldn't take advantage of her in this state.

He opened up her underwear drawer and handed her a bra and underwear, which she pulled on. She sat dressed that way on the bed, staring down at her hands, her mind buzzing with the bullet that was meant for Tim, that hit Tim that she should have stopped. Protection for Tim, right? Wrong. She had failed Gibbs. She didn't want to feel this way. She wanted Tony, she did, she loved him, she really did, but she didn't know if she could do this anymore.

Tony pulled out a cotton dress and pulled it over her head, pulling it down as she stayed in the same place. He put her arms through the sleeves and then picked her up, gently, pulling her into him. She automatically wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed her back down on the bed, once the dress was over her butt as she let go of him and continued to pick at her nails.

She was endangering everyone because of her feelings, her still growing, strong feelings for her partner. What was next? Who would get hurt next? Or would it be worse? Would someone have to die before she realized that enough was enough? Or she could just solve it right now…

"Come on, let's go." His voice suddenly broke into her thoughts and she looked up at him, staring into his deep brown eyes. Her eyes, when Tony looked into them, were bloodshot, dilated, and she obviously needed sleep. There were forming dark circles and he sighed. He hated seeing her this way. It wasn't her fault. It was a mistake, mistakes happen. People aren't perfect.

"Where?" She questioned, her voice meek. She cleared her throat, trying to be strong.

"To dinner. I'm taking you out tonight. My treat. We could go to Giovanni's, that Italian restaurant Marco works at. He makes the _best _la-"

"Tony, no thank you." She waved her hand away, as if to tell him to go away.

"You haven't eaten since breakfast. Come on, let's go."

"Tony, I can't do this anymore." She managed to spit out, looking to the right and out the window, away from Tony. He furrowed his eyebrows together and let his shoulders drop.

"Huh? What are you talking about? Okay, you don't like the dress. Fine. You got another good dress in here…it's blue…" He started, walking quickly towards the closet.

"No, no that." She said, quickly, as if she couldn't say it if she said it slowly.

"Okay, so you're not in the mood for Italian then?" He laughed, "You're not in the mood for Tony DiNozzo then, are ya?" He grinned.

"No, Tony, that's not it." She stood up, ripping her eyes away from the window as she looked at him, "I can't do this anymore." He looked confused, as normal.

"I don't understand what you're talking about…"

"Tony I…this McGee fiasco has really shaken me up. I was supposed to provide protection for him, Tony, not you. I followed my heart, and I cannot help but wonder if I do not continue to do my duty, as I did for McGee, and I decide that your life is more valuable to me than any of my other co-workers, what would happen. I cannot wait until Gibbs or McGee get injured, or worse, killed because of my stupidity and lack of cooperation." She gulped and took a deep breath before she looked straight into his eyes, "I _love _you, Tony, but I cannot go on like this. I think it would be best if we…if we….stopped seeing each other." She could almost feel the pain as she almost heard his heart break.

"Ziva…" The pain was evident in his voice as well. She winced at the sound.

"It is hurting you as much as it is hurting me, Tony, trust me. But it is best for the both of us. We are putting our co-workers lives in danger everyday because of our devotion to each other. I cannot and will not wait until someone else gets hurt before we actually do something about this."

"Ziva…" He started again.

"It will be easier if you just leave, Tony. It is getting into the way. We are becoming…we are becoming an inference in work, on the field. It is best if it ends now."

"Too late," He spat before turning quickly out of the room, grabbing his badge, his SIG, and his jacket off of the table as he threw the door open, "I'll be back for my stuff later!" He fumed as he slammed the door shut.


	7. Files

"Oh my baby! I am so happy you're finally released!" Mrs. Schmidt's nearly cried as she threw her arms around her smiling son. He winced in pain as Mr. Schmidt pulled his wife back.

"Hold on, Mom, I'll just be a moment. I have to speak to Special Agent Gibbs." His mother nodded and then wiped away her tears as she finally let go of him. He moved away from her and towards Gibbs, who sat on the bench in front of McGee's ICU room. He stood up once Curtis got to him, "Special Agent Gibbs." He acknowledged, standing in attention as soon as he was in front of him.

"At ease," Gibbs smirked.

"I just wanted to thank you personally for taking down that bastard who kidnapped me."

"Not a problem. But it wasn't me. Thank Officer David."

"Where is he?"

"_She," _He corrected, smirking at the fact that he had just called Ziva a man. If she was here, he would definitely have been sent back to emergency surgery, "And…" his senses were kicking in. He heard the elevator door open, "There she is." The sailor looked in shock at the gray haired man and then shot his eyes to the elevator doors, where Ziva David came walking out, her hair pulled back into a tight bun, dressed in a white cotton dress and boots. Gibbs turned around and let his eyes bulge out for just a moment, "Ziva?" he questioned, looking her up and down. He had to bite back the whistle that was going through his head. He hated to admit it, but she looked _hot. _He wanted to smack himself for thinking that. Horrible, he knew.

"Gibbs." She acknowledged, "I have come to speak to Doctor Pitt. Where is he?"

"Sorry, Ziver, but you have to talk to Chief Officer Curtis Schmidt first."

"Officer David. I would personally like to thank you for bringing down that bastard." He repeated, smiling a dazzling smile at her. She let her eyes falter for a moment, looking down at the ground before nodding.

"Yes I…." She could feel the guilt welling up. She almost couldn't take it anymore. She had just been so wrong, so horribly wrong in everything that she had done that day; she almost could not take it. At all, "Gibbs I cannot take this anymore." She suddenly blurted out, turning to him, "It is my fault McGee is in there, yes? Because I was too concerned for Tony's safety, yes? Oh Tony…" She thought back to him. She was losing it, she was, and she couldn't stop herself, "I have to go Gibbs." She muttered before she quickly moved past her boss and the sailor.

"Uh….sir?" Curtis asked after a couple of moments in silence.

Gibbs just patted his shoulder, "Be good, sailor." He nodded, "and I don't expect to see your name up in NCIS again, only if you're applying for a job."

He smiled, "Yes sir. Thank you for saving me. You have no idea how thankful I am."

Gibbs just nodded and then saluted him a goodbye before he shook his head and looked into McGee's ICU room, where Abby still sat by his side, holding his hand in hers. _I'm gonna get coffee. _He thought before he disappeared towards the vending machines.

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Director Vance called Tony into his office about two hours later, demanding that he needed to come in as soon as possible. Groaning, Tony left his apartment, got into his Mustang, and drove to NCIS headquarters. His feet seemed to be moving slower than usual, nevertheless, he made it up to the Directors' office before he had the chance to possibly hate him anymore.

"You wanted to see me, Director Vance?" He questioned as he closed the door quietly and slowly behind him.

"Yes, Agent DiNozzo, take a seat." He gestured to one of the chairs in front of him. Tony looked behind him and then took the closest seat. Vance grabbed a file off of his desk and then walked around to the other side of the table. He set the file down, "How's Agent McGee doing?" He questioned, staring down into him, the toothpick sticking out of the side of his mouth.

"McGee's doing well." Tony said, "Well I mean, he's still in a coma, but Dr. Pitt said he was doing just fine…for his state." Normally he would have thrown a joke in there, but Ziva not only broke up with him, but he also just hadn't been feeling like throwing his normal jokes in there. Not since his _wonderful _time as an Agent Afloat. He'd have to thank Director Vance for that.

"Well DiNozzo, I called you in here to discuss your work ethics."

"What about them?" He questioned. He had been filing in his reports on time, even sometimes before Ziva and McGee, he was always on time to work, he barely ever made movie references anymore…what did he do?

"I've noticed their improvement from the time that Jenny Shepard was Director and from my time as Director." Tony just stared at him, as if motioning him to continue. Realizing he wasn't going to say anything, he continued, "Your reports have been outstanding, and your interrogation techniques, observation techniques, and all around techniques have increased…significantly. And after reviewing the case you took over for Gibbs a couple of weeks ago, I have finally made my decision."

"Thank you, sir," He said, nodding his head, unable to keep the small smile forming on his face. Vance mirrored the smile, yet it was larger.

"Which is why I'm promoting you," Tony gulped as Vance continued, pushing the manila folder closer to the senior field agent, "A new team. Your own team. San Diego. What do you think?" Tony just stared down at the file, unable to even breathe, "Now I know that Jenny Shepard did the same for the Rota team in Spain, but this is different, DiNozzo. You have changed since then, otherwise I wouldn't be promoting you."

"Director Vance I…"

"Think about it and then tell me your decision. You have 72 hours."

"Where have I heard that before?" he mumbled as Vance shoved the file towards him before standing up and walking towards his desk, leaving Tony at the table, "I would carefully consider it, Agent DiNozzo. Change isn't a bad thing."

And then, he couldn't help it, he stood up and turned around, "Ziva." He suddenly burst out. He gulped as Director Vance turned around, arching an eyebrow.

"Excuse me, Agent DiNozzo?"

He let his mouth flap open for a little bit, unable of what to say. He hadn't meant to say that, he really hadn't, "Uh…and…McGee and Gibbs and Ducky and Abby." He finally finished, covering up for his mistake. He mentally slapped himself, "What will they think?"

"They will hopefully accept your decision to move forward with your life. You can't stay with them forever. You will lose them all someday, Agent DiNozzo. Remember, this is a once in a lifetime chance."

Tony groaned and snatched the file up, starting towards the door as he mumbled quietly, to himself, "I've had _enough _with 'once in a lifetime' chances."

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Dr. Pitt." Ziva called as she spotted him from down the hall. He turned his head towards her and then started through the crowd of doctors and nurses, heading in the direction of the Israeli woman.

"Ziva, correct?" She wrung her hands together.

"Yes. I was…I just wondering…"

"About Agent McGee?"

"Actually…" She sighed, how was she going to do this? "I was wondering if you still possibly had the record for…May 10th, 2005?" She had memorized the date. She wasn't even there, but she had remembered the date. Memories of Jeanne flew back to her.

"For?" Pitt knew. He just didn't want to say it. He wanted _her _to say it.

"Tony." She said, exhaling deeply. She had said it, "I need to know."

"You don't?" he questioned, and she shook her head.

"No. I need to know."

He nodded his head, "I'll see what I can dig up. Wait here."

Ziva looked around and spotted a chair sitting up against the wall. She took a seat, unable to determine what exactly was going through her mind. Tony. She had made a mistake, she knew that, and she wanted to get back together with him, but she knew that it was best for the entire team that they weren't together. She loved him. She would admit that. She had been stupid. She had nearly dedicated her life to him, she had thrown herself at him, placed her life in his hands, depended on him, relied on him and now…she was pulling it all back in at the last moment but still holding on to the one part that Tony didn't know he was holding onto.

She didn't know how she was going to face him every day for the rest of her life…there would be too much tension. But did she seriously think that they were going to get married? That Tony was seriously ready to be _that _committed to life? To _her _life? Sure, he was a 'new' Tony, per say, but he was still Tony. And Tony was afraid of commitment. Maybe not as much as he was then, but he was still afraid. But one day he was going to get older, and women just weren't going to flock all over him anymore, and he was going to have to settle down. He had to accept the fact that his own mortality was coming up, and he had to act if he wanted to be with someone, if he wanted a 'Mrs. DiNozzo' in his life.

Suddenly, a cup appeared in front of her eyes, and the smell of fresh green tea shot through her nostrils. She looked up and into the blue eyes of Leroy Jethro Gibbs. She took it, giving him a small turn of one lip up before taking a sip and sitting back in her seat. Gibbs said nothing and then took a seat next to her.

"You know, Ziva," He started, after sitting in silence for a while, "There are moments in life where you will mess up, where you will regret what you did, where you'll blame yourself for something that wasn't your fault." He didn't look at her, he just continued to stare at the wall in front of him, "And then you realize that it's not your fault, and you couldn't have done anything to prevent the mistake from happening. You just have to trust yourself enough to know the difference between when you screw up and when you protect the people you care about." Gibbs turned and glanced at Ziva, who was staring at him, for a moment before taking a sip of his coffee.

"Gibbs I…"

"I'm not mad at you, Ziva." He said, "Or disappointed. You were protecting Tony." He patted her knee, and she looked down at the sound of his name, absentmindedly playing with the hem of her dress, "I understand. Then you have to remember who you care about the most. And then you make your decision."

It was at that moment that Dr. Pitt decided to come out, medical record on hand. He approached her, "Here you go, Ziva!" He handed her the file, and she quickly tucked it under her arm, so that Gibbs couldn't see.

"Thank you." She mumbled before quickly standing up. Gibbs just gave a small smirk when she didn't look, "Goodnight, Gibbs." She said, "Please call me when he awakes, yes?" She asked as she started away.

"Ziva," He called, standing up. She paused and turned her head, staring back at the former marine, "If you wanted to check up on DiNozzo, you could just ask."

Ziva just looked down at the file and then started towards the elevator, not even nodding back at Gibbs. She pressed the down button for the elevator, and then waited in front of it before pulling out the medical file and skimming through it. The elevator doors chimed open and she walked in, pressing the garage button and then heading down. Figuring that she'd finish it up later, she closed it and then the elevator doors opened to reveal the garage and none other than Anthony DiNozzo standing there. Her heart skipped a beat as she glanced up at him, refusing to meet his eyes. She moved past him quickly, a shiver running through her body as her shoulder brushed up against his as she nearly bolted out of the elevator, leaving Tony to stare after her.

He shook his head and looked down at the file that was in his hands. With Ziva acting the way she was, the San Diego team was starting to look better and better every time he opened it. The elevator doors closed again in front of him, and he sighed. He wasn't going to have the talk with Gibbs about this now. Not until he finished reading the file and made his decision. Over pizza and some beer. He needed some calming down. Oh yeah, and after he moved all of his stuff from Ziva's apartment back over to his.

He wondered briefly how much moving truck rentals cost.


	8. Wake Up

At around seven thirty, Tony's doorbell rang, signaling that the pizza he had ordered almost two hours ago was finally here.

"It's about time." he angrily muttered as he headed towards the door. He paid the guy, took the pizza, and then sat down on the couch, pulling out a slice as he took a bite of it. Sighing, he stared down at the manila folder on the coffee table in front of him. He sighed again. Vance had just given him a way out, to get away from everything…to just…run. It was almost his ticket for a new life. He switched the pizza to one hand, wiped the other on his pants, and then opened up the manila folder, reading the first name of one of the agents he would be in charge of _if _he took the job in San Diego:

_Marilynn Garter. _

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ziva David walked from the door to her couch, pizza box in hand, ready to read what the hell had happened to Tony that made him nearly die. She sighed and sat down, taking in a deep breath as she prepared herself for what she was going to read. She opened up his file, slowly, and then stared down at the picture of Tony that was in the far right corner, accompanied with his medical information, his blood type (A plus), his birth date, etc.

And then she read, in Dr. Pitt's scrawl of handwriting the words that almost made her blood run cold:

Y. Pestis.

The pneumonic plague.

She shuddered and read on:

_Human Y. pestis takes three forms: pneumonic, septicemia, and the bubonic plague. _

_Eubacteria, Proteobacteria, gammaproteobacteria, enterobacteriales, enterobacteriaceae, yersinia. _

As she read on, she almost couldn't believe her eyes. Halfway through, she had to take a moment to get her heart rate back to normal.

_Plasmid pCD1.…strain KIM….F1 and V antigens…_

_Symptoms of the Pneumonic plague:_

_-Fever_

_-Chills_

_-Cough_

_-Chest pain_

_-Dyspnea_

_-Hemoptysis_

_-Lethargy_

_-Hypotension_

_-Shock_

_-Symptoms of both the bubonic or septicemia plague are not always present. _

_Treatments that can be used, streptomycin, chloramphenicol, tetracycline, doxycycline, gentamicin, and fluoroquinolones. Streptomycin or gentamicin are the first-line drugs, with chloramphenicol for crtically ill patients, or rarely for suspected neuroinvolvement. _

Ziva decided to stop reading. She couldn't read it anymore. She leaned back up against the couch and wiped away the tears that were threatening to fall. She shook her head. _Stop being such a baby, Ziva! _She yelled at herself. Breaking her out of her thoughts, her cell phone rang. She didn't even glance at the caller ID.

"David." She said.

"_Ziva. It's Gibbs. He's awake."_

And her heart nearly jumped out of her body as she stood up, grabbed her car key, and then ran out of the door, "I am coming, Gibbs."

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony DiNozzo parked the car in front of Ziva's apartment. He looked around and didn't spot her red mini cooper anywhere in sight, and he thankfully sighed. He turned off the engine, debated with himself for a moment or two, and then got out of the car. He trudged up the steps and then inserted the key to her door as he opened it up. He poked his head in the small opening.

"Ziva?" he questioned before realizing that the light was already on. He stepped in and closed the door behind him, checking the key hanger beside the door. It was empty. He furrowed his eyebrows together. Where could she have possibly gone?

He moved towards the living room and spotted the open box of pizza, with only one piece missing, his favorite kind too. He smiled and then looked around before taking a slice and biting into it. As he turned around, realization set it, his eyes grew wide, and he turned back to the coffee table, dropping the pizza back in the box before grabbing the file that was sitting on the coffee table. He read it, no, he just glanced at it, before he dropped it back on the table.

"_Ziva" _He nearly spat and growled, "Where is Ziva?" Thinking that the best bet would be the hospital, he grabbed his file and then quickly headed out of the apartment.

___________________________________________________________________________

Ziva nearly sprinted out of the elevator, towards McGee's ICU room.

"Ziva, Ziva, slow down." Gibbs said as she bolted into McGee's room, stopping quickly and staring at the man that was lying in the bed, looking weak, his eyes closed.

"McGee…" She nearly whispered, "Tim." She ran over to his bed and bent down next to him, carefully touching the top of his head, resting her hand there, "Tim I am so sor…"

"Sign of weakness, Ziva." Gibbs called, and Ziva shot her head to the man that was leaning up against the doorway of his ICU room.

"What was weak was not protecting you like I should have, McGee." She whispered, and McGee moved his good hand to carefully touch her lower stomach.

"I don't blame you, Ziva." He said, his voice soft and a little crackly sounding at the beginning of his sentence, "I'm a federal agent as well…I should be able to take care of myself. I don't need a big bad Mossad Assassin to do that for me."

She just smiled through her sadness before looking up to stare at Abby, who was on the other side of the bed, still holding McGee's hand.

"I'm gonna call DiNozzo." Gibbs announced, "I haven't told him yet." He said as he left the room to dial his cell phone. Abby gave Ziva a closed smile before grinning widely.

"Tony's coming, Ziva." She smiled, and McGee looked between the two women.

"Yes, I understand that…" She muttered unhappily.

"But he's _Tony, _Ziva." She grinned, "Tony _DiNozzo?" _

"Abby!" She suddenly shouted, wanting nothing more than to be concerned for McGee and her actions, or lack there of, "Tony and I broke up, there is nothing more!"

Abby's face fell as Ziva huffed and her attention fell on the junior field agent. The room was quiet for a moment before McGee interrupted it, "You and Tony were going out?" just as Abby screamed, "WHAT?!" and Tony stormed into the room, the Y. Pestis file clenched in his hand.

"Tony!" Abby exclaimed, "Why didn't you tell me you two broke up? When did this happen? Why did this happen? I demand details! I mean, just the other day you two were making out on Ziva's bed!"

"They were making out on her bed?" McGee asked Abby in shock, "What?"

"Ziva, I need to talk to you for a minute." Tony growled, wiggling the folder in front of her face, "Privately!"

"Tony, I do not think that that is the best idea." She calmly, slowly said, trying to calm him down. What was getting him so worked up? She was just trying to understand what he went through, she didn't understand _why, _but she was just trying to understand how he feels about pain! About hospitals!

"No! We need to talk _now_!" And he grabbed her by the arm. She pulled away, scoffing at him.

"No! Let go of me, _DiNozzo!" _She put emphasis on his name, ripping her arm out of his grasp in the process.

"Tony! What's this about? Why did you break up?" Abby yelled again, and that was when the entire room burst out into a thunderous noise of yelling people.

"ABBY!" Tony turned on her, causing her to back-up, "This is between ME and ZIVA! Leave us alone! Why do you always have to butt into people's personal lives, huh?" Tony briefly wondered if Vance's promotion did this to him.

"I could say the same to you!" Ziva shouted back.

"Why am I _always _out of the loop?" McGee thought softly to himself as people screamed over him.

Dr. Pitt and a couple of other nurses and doctors started towards the room in curiosity, "What's going on here, Dr. Pitt?" One of the nurses asked.

"Looks like there's a little misunderstanding."

"A little?" Another doctor laughed, "I'd say a big one."

"Agent Gibbs!" Dr. Pitt called, "You need to calm down your agents, they're disturbing our patients."

Gibbs turned to look at him, "Ah, they're not my agents."

Dr. Pitt looked confused as he stared at the screaming women and men in the room. Tony tried to pull Ziva out again, and Ziva looked as if she was going to kill him, "Yes they are Agent Gibbs, I…"

"Not today they aren't."


	9. Congratulations

After a heavy debate and a couple of intense games of rock, paper, scissors, Dr. Pitt finally lost and was sent in to McGee's ICU unit to break up the fight.

"Hey!" He shouted as he entered the room, but nobody but McGee heard him, "HEY!" he shouted louder, and they all stopped and turned to look at him. He let out a sigh of relief, amidst their angry faces, and then put his hands up, "Remain calm. Tony, Ziva, take your argument outside, please."

Tony huffed and so did Ziva before they were shoved out of the room by Dr. Pitt.

Once outside and the door closed, Tony immediately turned to her, "What were you doing with this?" He demanded, pointing to his medical file.

"I just wanted to know, Tony." She said, and he studied her eyes for a moment before storming off down the hallway. She sighed and followed him, "Tony! Listen to me!" She called after him, "I just wanted to know…to understand…"

He abruptly turned on her, knocking her backwards a little, "The only thing I understand right now is that you don't feel strongly enough to just _ask _me, Ziva, just ask!"

"I thought it would be painful to talk about…I…" She started again, but Tony continued to yell and cut her off.

"You thought it would be painful to talk about?! Well that's not the only painful thing around here, Ziva!"

Her expression softened as she looked up into his eyes, which were darting from object to object, not resting on anything in particular. They were oblivious to the tiny crowd that had formed around them and continued to grow.

"There is something else troubling you." She commented. How he thought that he could have possibly let something that big slip past _Ziva, _he didn't understand. Because there wasn't anyone who knew him better. She carefully placed a hand on his forearm, "You can tell me."

His expression immediately softened at her touch, and he looked down, almost guiltily before looking back up at her, "I…" he started, and she nodded as if to force him to continue, "Sometimes we make mistakes, and sometimes they're for bad. But then sometimes we make mistakes and they turn out to be good." He whispered, and Ziva furrowed her eyebrows together.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm sorry, Ziva." He muttered before carefully prying her fingers off of his forearm and then placing the Y. Pestis file in it. He then walked away, feeling an empty hole in his heart.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tony got into his car and drove to NCIS headquarters, his heart thumping in his ears. He was going to do it. It was the best decision. Vance had just given him a ticket out, and he was taking it. He jumped out of the car, grabbed the file, and nearly sprinted to the elevator before he could make his last final decision. As he entered the squadroom, he walked past it, his heart aching.

He would miss them.

McGee.

Little probie would be senior field agent, there wouldn't be anyone to stop him from going all the way to the top, there wouldn't be anyone that would pick on him, there wouldn't be anything at all. He would be free and happy.

Abby.

He could almost _see _her tears running down her face, and her bone-crushing hug engulfing him as she whined, 'Don't go, Tony! We need you!'. She'd understand. He'd write her everyday. He'd miss her laugh, her god awful music that blared way too loud, and the normal Caf-Pow trips.

Ducky.

He was pretty sure that, even though his stories were boring, he'd miss them. Intensely. And he'd miss the autopsies and the tea (that he detested), and even the times when he didn't have a bar date (which was almost never), when Ducky'd be there for him.

Gibbs.

Gibbs. He was the father he never had. He would be sorely disappointed when he found out Tony's decision, but he knew that he would understand that he took the promotion just to be team leader, as a new environment around him.

Ziva.

God, Ziva. He couldn't even bare to think about her. Her beautiful face, tears streaming down them, her forehead scrunched up as if trying not to cry as she whispered his name, 'Tony. Do not go.' but that was only a fantasy. She would get over him, in fact, he was pretty sure it would take only a mere 24 hours at most. She was a tough Mossad assassin, for crying out loud!

He stopped in front of the Director's door and confirmed his final decision. He started to talk to himself.

"Is that your final answer?" he asked in his best Regis impersonation.

"A. Team in San Diego. Final answer." he repeated before opening the door and stepping inside.

"Agent DiNozzo!" Vance greeted him with a smile as he closed the door behind him, "Have you made a decision about San Diego?"

"Yes, I have, Director Vance." He nodded, stopping in front of his desk.

"Well? Should I tell San Deigo to be expecting you?"

He took in a deep breath, "Yes. I accept the promotion."

Vance beamed, "Great!" He pulled out a form, and then handed him a pen, "Just sign there and hand in your badge and gun and I'll print you out your flight tickets." He turned to the computer as Tony signed the paper on the dotted line, his mind in a haze. He wasn't thinking. His heart was pounding in his ears as Director Vance took the papers away and then handed him his flight information.

"Badge and gun?" he questioned, and Tony nodded before removing them both from his belt buckle and carefully placing them on his desk, "You will be issued new ones in San Diego." He reiterated, and Tony nodded his head. Vance grinned, "Congratulations, Agent DiNozzo. Your flight leaves tomorrow," he extended his hand, "It was nice working with you, Agent DiNozzo. Congratulations."

**THE END**

**MWHAHAHAHAHA! Don't worry though, there will be a sequel! **


End file.
